Matthew Ko’s Wife Hopes to Overcome Business Troubles

Forty-one-year-old Matthew Ko (高鈞賢), the first-ever winner of Mr Hong Kong, announced at the end of last year that he had married his wife Christine (高梓漫) and that she was expecting a baby. This January, the couple welcomed their daughter, Ko Tsz Lam (高子淋), forming a blissful family of three.

Pawning Her Jewellery to Pay Workers’ Salaries

Earlier, the beauty company founded by Christine successfully went public in the United States, with its share price surging more than sixfold. Christine’s net worth soared to over HK$2.7 billion. However, the company was ordered to suspend trading last month. Christine said she has been actively cooperating with regulators in hopes of resuming trading soon. On November 4, she also posted on social media, saying she would face this challenging period calmly.

Sharing photos from early days of entrepreneurship on her socials, Christine expressed that she hoped to rediscover her original motivation, and that she will fully accept all media coverage and analyses, whether positive or otherwise. She revealed that during the toughest period of the pandemic, she pawned her bridal jewellery to pay her employees’ salaries, and affirmed that she still has the courage and passion to make a comeback, earning encouraging messages from netizens.

“At a low point in life, flipping through photos from the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey feels like finding my original purpose again. Nine years ago, I founded Athena Beauty Group using my daughter’s name.

“Nine years later, the TCM-based Beauty Lab Group was listed on Nasdaq in the United States, under the stock code MCTA (the initials of my family’s names). Ten years to hone a sword—mine took nine years. None of this happened by chance; I truly believe this is a greater mission and test given to me from above.

Finding Back Her Entrepreneurial Passion

“My emotions went from excitement to waking up as if from a dream… I think of how our two-person company, from nine years ago, grew to nearly 50 people today. And pawning my dragon-and-phoenix bridal bangles just to pay my employees during the most difficult days of the pandemic. Throughout this entrepreneurial path, I’ve always tried my best to do good. Every entrepreneur struggles, and few truly understand the hardships. In business, survival often hangs by a thread.

“Without the courage to rise again, there is no chance to find hope in desperation, no chance to break out of the cocoon and become a butterfly, and no chance to truly take control of your destiny…success is never losing one’s passion despite failures. The foundation of that passion is precisely the courage to rise again.” In her hashtags, Christine also expressed gratefulness for the people and events she met with over the years, and talked about giving herself three years to achieve new breakthroughs once again.

Source: 1